Telegram Founder Offers to Buy Back Stolen Louvre Jewels After Paris Heist

By Staff, Agencies

Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov has offered to purchase and return the French crown jewels stolen from the Louvre Museum, following a daring daylight robbery that shocked Paris over the weekend.

On Sunday, four thieves broke into the world-renowned museum and escaped with eight precious artifacts, including royal necklaces, earrings, and a 19^th-century tiara.

In a post on X [formerly Twitter] on Tuesday, Durov made a tongue-in-cheek offer to help recover the treasures. “Happy to buy the stolen jewelry and donate it back to the Louvre. I mean Louvre Abu Dhabi, of course; no one steals from Louvre Abu Dhabi,” the Russian-born tech billionaire, who currently resides in Dubai, wrote.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi, opened in 2017 on Saadiyat Island, is a collaboration between France and the United Arab Emirates.

Durov went on to say that he was “not at all surprised” by the Paris theft, calling it “another sad sign of the decline of a once-great country.” He criticized the French government for focusing on “phantom threats instead of confronting the real ones.”

The Telegram founder has previously accused French authorities of attempting to pressure him into imposing political censorship on his platform. He was briefly detained at a Paris airport last year over allegations of failing to remove illegal content from Telegram but was later released on bail.